Foundation soles of shoes



Feb. 7, 1961 v. vloLANo ErAL Y l 2,970,391

FOUNDATION SOLES OF SHOES Filed Feb. s, 1958 ATTORNEY Unit@ tates Patent FOUNDATION SOLES OF SHOES Vincent Violano, 1675 Southern Blvd., and Sydney Germansky, 1161 Shakespeare Ave., both of Bronx, N.Y.

Filed Feb. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 712,886

Claims. (Cl. 36-17) The present invention refers to shoes, and more particularly to the construction of the foundation soles of shoes of various types.

The present invention is applicable to two different types of shoes. One type is what may be called a normal shoe which comprises mainly an upper, an inner sole and an outer sole to which may be added a heel. tionally either the inner sole or'the outer sole or both are made of leather or synthetic material.

The second type referred to are so-called mold shoes which are made in special shapes to conform to irregularly shaped or otherwise affected feet. In this case the shoe and particularly the sole in constructed on a cast previously made from the particularly foot. In this case itis usually not easily possible to form the inner sole fromleather alone because this inner sole has `to be molded so as to exactly conform with the shape of the foot, or in some way to comply with medical indications or therapeutical requirements.

In ythe latter case, a particulardifliculty has arisen from the fact that innerrsoles built up from conventional material in the manner required to suit the particular foot, have been found usually to be extremely stilf and therefore likely to cause trouble or inconvenience to the wearer of such a mold shoe.

' YIt is a main object of this invention to provide in a shoe or sole construction an'inner foundation'` sole which isentirely flexible and comfortable.

4It it another object of this invention to provide for a mold shoe in which the foundation isv built up from various layers wherever necessary, so as to conform with n the shape of the foot it is designed to support yet being entirely exible and comfortable for the wearer.

It is still another object of the invention to provide fora normal shoe in which the inner sole is composed of a layer of entirely exible material which would result in a-particular comfort to the wearer.

It is still another object of this invention to provide for a shoe and sole construction which is comparatively simple and can be carried out in production very eiliciently with satisfactory results. Y

With above objects in mind, a shoe according tothe present invention is characterized by an inner foundation sole including at least one layer of juxtaposed 'convolutions of strands of flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together, and an outer sole secured tov said inner foundation sole at the bottom face thereof.

The novel features which are considered as characteristicffor the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be-best understood from the following description `of specific embodiments when read in connection with'the Yaccompanying drawings, in which:

l Fig. yl'is abottom view of the inner foundation of a shoe forming one embodiment of the invention, the outer sole being omitted;

Conven- Niaice Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section through a shoe according to the invention, wherein the inner foundation comprises a two-layer structure, the section being taken along line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary cross section taken along line III-lll of Fig. l, illustrating an inner foundation in which the structure is a multi-layer structure, as usually used in the heel portion of the shoe;

Fig. 4 is a similar fragmentary cross section taken along line IV`IV of Fig. l to illustrate a further modication of the inner foundations shown in Figs. 2 and 3,;

and

Fig. 5 a similar fragmentary cross section of a normal shoe with a construction of the inner sole in accordance with the invention.

Figs. 1 4 refer to an embodiment of this invention in which the complete shoe constitutes a so-called mold shoe. As is known in the art, mold shoes are constructed over a cast of the foot for which they are designed. For the purpose of carrying out the construction according to the invention, tirst a suitable sock lining or several layers thereof as indicated by z' in the drawings may be placed over the surface of the cast.

Additional means, not forming part of the invention,

may be employed to contain Whatever material is subsequently placed on, or attached to, said sock lining layer Then first at least one layer of a comparatively strong and heavy cord having a rather tight texture and low yieldingness in transverse direction is placed onA the sock lining z' in such a manner that this cord 1 formsf a contour of the' projected inner foundationof the shoe. Wherever necessary or advisable, more' than one` layer of this kcord 1 may be placed one over the otheras shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The cord material 1 is preferably impregnated With latex or equivalent bonding material which might be self-vulcanizing, and at the time when these cords 1 are placed on the sock lining the various layers are bonded with each other and one layer is bonded to the edge portion of the sock lining i as can be clearly seen from Pigs. 2-4. Subsequently a number of convolutions of a comparatively soft cord 2 are placed in any suitable manner, for instance as indicated by Fig. 1, into the area surrounded by the contour cord or cords 1 in such a manner that finally the whole surface of this space surrounded by said contour is covered by the cord material 2. 'Ihe individual convolutions of the cord 2 are pushed tightly against the contour cords 1 and as the application proceeds, also tightly against the previously applied portions of this cord material 2. At the same time bonding material is introduced and applied so that all the convolutions of the soft cord material 2 are firmly bonded to theV sock lining i and in the edge portion with the contour cord 1. In case any gap should be left somewhere between 'convolutions then short pieces of the cord 2 may be inserted soasY to rlll the gap.

As is implied by Figs. 2-4, there may be curved areas where the configuration of the surface ofthe cast on which the sock lining rests, requires a building up `of the inner rfoundation in such a manner that finally a surface in the direction opposite to the sock lining i is created which is more or less even. Therefore in certain portions additional'layers of the cordmaterial 2 are placed over the first layer and in this manner an inner foundation is finally constructed which has at least'one but in certain portions two or more layers of the soft cord material 2. As the number of layers or the thickness of the foundation grows additional layers of the vcontour cords 1 have to ,be added to the lrst one or two layers thereof so that these additional layers for instance in the heel portionto go to extremes in attempting to create an even surface of the foundation on the side opposite to the sock lining i. As is shown in Figs. 2 4, it is very well possible and satisfactory in accordance with the invention to apply to the possibly uneven surface a layer of filler material 7 so that a comparatively even outer surface is obtained which is adapted to be attached to an outer sole.

As indicated by Fig. 4, the upper 9 can be attached in more or less conventional manner to the outside of the contour cords ll and to a portion of the exposed surface of the layer of soft cords 2 or of the filler material '7. Then the outer sole 8 which may be of leather or synthetic material can be bonded or vulcanized to the exposed surface of the inner foundation and the pertaining portions of the upper 9.

It can be seen from the above that a mold shoe coristructed in the manner set forth will have a very comfortable flexibility throughout the whole length of the sole because the various convolutions or pieces of the soft cord 2 remain entirely flexible, particularly if a flexible bond material is used for connecting them with each other and with the sock lining i. Latex cement has been found most satisfactory in this respect. The contour cords l having less yieldingness than the soft cords 2 assure a certain firmness of the shoe construction which will be found most satisfactory with regard to the desire that such a shoe maintains its shape,

For the sake of completeness it may be mentioned that the soft cord type may consist of a type of cord similar to that used for instance as clothesline. Such material should be processed by soaking the cord in hot water for a period of time. Then the soaked cord should be placed in a bath of a bleaching agent in order to take out all the starch that may be contained in the cord. This treatment has to be continued only for a short period. After this the cord should be washed in hot water in order to remove the remnants of the bleaching agent, whereafter the cord may be dried and will be found that all stiffness is eliminated therefrom.

It may further be mentioned that a suitable filler material 7 may consist of ground cork or wood flour mixed with a bonding material, preferably self-vulcanizing latex.

A mixture of this type of material can be very easily applied to the surface of the inner foundation and smoothened out before it solidifies.

Fig. refers to a sole construction for a so-called normal shoe. In this case again a sock lining i or equivalent material may be placed over a last determining the final shape of the shoe. Then again a single layer of soft cord material 2 may be applied and attached to the sock lining z' in the same manner as described above, after a contour cord 1 has been attached in the abovedescribed manner to the sock lining i. After this an attachment strip 10 is vulcanized or otherwise bonded to the contour cord 1 in the manner indicated by Fig. 5. The

'attcahment strip ffl preferably consists of a flexible core which may be a string or cord l', and a surrounding tubular envelope 10 which is preferably made of leather, and must in any case be adapted to be stitched. Now the material of the shoe upper 9 may again be placed around the edges of the inner foundation or inner sole, the edge being constituted by the outer faces of the contour cord 1 and the attachment strip 10. Also in this case a filler material 7 may be applied as a thin layer to the layer of soft cords 2. Now a welt strip 11 is stitched or sewn from the outside to the sole construction, the stitch passing not only through the welt ll but also through the upper 9 and the attachment strip 10. This stitch is indicated in Fig. 5 by numeral 12. After this an outer sole 8 of any suitable material can be vulcanized or sewn in the usual manner by means of stitches 13 to the welt strip 1l.

It can be seen that a normal shoe constructed with an inner sole asdescribed will have a great flexibility of the sole and due to the softness of the cords 2 will be xtremely comfortable to wear.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of shoe construction differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in construction of both mold shoes and normal shoes, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invetnion.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so furry reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptions should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed asnew and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. In a shoe, in combination, an inner foundation sole having a bottom face having a marginal portion and including at least one layer of juxtaposed convolutions of first strands of comparatively soft flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together, and a layer of flexible filler material applied to at least a portion of the bottom face of said layer and flexibly bonded thereto, for equalizing said face and for adapting it to receive an outer sole, and at least one cord means flexibly bonded to the outer contour of said layer and including second strands of fibrous material having comparatively tighter texture and lesser transverse yieldingness than said first strands, and including a number of strands superimposed one upon the other; an upper having a marginal attachment portion, means for securing said marginal portion to thecorresponding marginal portion of the bottom face of said inner foundation sole; and an outer sole secured to said inner foundation sole at the bottom face thereof and to said marginal portion of said upper.

2. In a mold shoe, an inner foundational sole having a top surface curved to correspond to a particular foot and including at least one layer of juxtaposed convolutions of comparatively soft first strands of flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together, atA least one group of comparatively soft additional strands of flexible fibrous material supporting at least portions of said one layer, said additional strands being adhesively and flexibly bonded together and to said one layer, at least one cord means flexibly and adhesively bonded to the outer contour of said one layer and to said additional strands where the latter form a common contour and including second strands of fibrous material having comparatively tighter texture and lesser transverse yieldingness than said first strands, and a layer of filler material applied to the bottom face of said first strands and said additional strands for equalizing said bottom face and for adapting it to receive an outer sole.

3. In a mold shoe, in combination, an inner foundation sole having a top surface curved to correspond to a particular foot and including at least one layer of juxtaposed convolutions of comparatively soft first strands of flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together', at least one group of comparatively soft additional strands of flexible fibrous material supporting at least portions of said one layer, said additional strands being adhesively and flexibly bonded together and to said one layer, at least one cord means flexibly and adhesively bonded to the outer contour of said one layer and to said additional strands where the latter forni a common contour and including second strands of fibrous material having comparatively tighter texture and lesser transverse yieldinguess than said first strands; and an upper having a marginal attachment portion, means for securing said marginal portion to the corresponding marginal portion of the bottom face of said inner foundation sole.

4. In a shoe, in combination, an inner foundation sole having a lbottom face having a marginal portion and including at least one layer of juxtaposed convolutions of rst strands of comparatively soft flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together, at least one cord means including second strands of fibrous material having comparatively tighter texture than said first strands, said cord means being exibly bonded to the outer contour of said layer and including a number of strands, superimposed one upon the other, to form a reinforcing edge around said contour, the lower portion of said second strands including a tubular envelope forming an attachment strip along the marginal portion of the bottom face of said inner foundation sole, and a layer of ller material applied to the bottom face of said inner foundation sole for equalizing said bottom face and for adapti-ng it to support evenly an outer sole; an upper having a marginal attachment portion, means for securing said marginal portion to saiid corresponding marginal portion of the bottom face of said inner foundation sole; a Welt strip; a stitched connecting thread attaching said welt strip to said upper and to said attachment strip along said contour; and an outer sole attached to said welt.

5. In a shoe, in combination, an inner foundation sole including at least one layer of juxtaposed convolutions of first strands of comparatively soft flexible fibrous material adhesively and flexibly bonded together, and at least one cord means flexibly bonded to the outer contour of said layer and including second strands of fibrous material having comparatively tighter texture and lesser transverse yieldingness than said first strands, and including a number of strands superimposed one upon the other, said inner foundation sole having a bottom face with a marginal portion thereof extending along the edge of said bottom face; an upper having a marginal attachment portion; means securing said marginal attachment portion to said marginal portion of the bottom rface of said inner foundation sole; outer sole means; and means attaching said outer sole means to said upper #and said inner foundation Sole superimposed upon said bottom face of said inner foundation sole firmly secured thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,236,244 Villa et al. Aug. 7, 1917 2,307,491 Gregg Jan. 5, 1943 2,315,759 Wilpan Apr; 6, 1943 2,342,815 Miner Feb. 29, 1944 2,377,144 Goldstein May 29, 1945 2,430,497 Enright Nov. 11, 1947 2,466,944 Gregg Apr. 12, 1949 2,467,821 Gregg Apr. 19, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 740,561 France Nov. l2, 1932 746,398 France Mar. 7, 1933 371,623 Italy May 31, 1939 

